Library of Congress Unveils License-Free Sampling Tools for Producers

The Citizen DJ project invites users to remix collections of sounds from a notoriously expansive archive.

The Library of Congress is offering musicians their pick of songs and sounds to chop in a forthcoming open-source (and license-free) sampling platform.

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Dubbed "Citizen DJ" by LOC's "innovator-in-residence," Brian Foo, the initiative is designed to inspire sample-based production at a time when Foo believes lawsuits have led to "excessive restrictions on how audio could be sampled." Users can access the sounds with an in-browser app, Citizen DJ's proprietary interface (still in beta as a full summer launch is readied,) or by simply downloading themed collections of sounds directly to their computers to tinker and toil in their DAW of preference.

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You can test an early version of the Library of Congress' Citizen DJ project here. Watch Foo demonstrate the tools below and check back in the months ahead as the available collections grow to include sounds spanning the last century of recorded music and film.